Iraq

Iraq: Wave of attacks kills at least 86 in Shiite and Sunni areas

Baghdad: A wave of attacks killed at least 86 people in Shiite and Sunni areas of Iraq on Monday, officials said, pushing the death toll over the past week to more than 230 and extending one of the most sustained bouts of sectarian violence the country has seen in years. The bloodshed is still far shy of the pace, scale and brutality of the dark days of 2006-2007, when Sunni and Shiite militias carried out retaliatory attacks against each other in a cycle of violence that left the country awash in blood.

Still, Monday's attacks, some of which hit markets and crowded bus stops during the morning rush hour, have heightened fears that the country could be turning back down the path toward civil war. Sectarian tensions have been worsening since Iraq's minority Sunnis began protesting what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government.

The mass demonstrations, which began in December, have largely been peaceful, but the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23. Iraq's Shiite majority, which was oppressed under the late dictator Saddam Hussein, now holds the levers of power in the country.

Wishing to rebuild the nation rather than revert to open warfare, they have largely restrained their militias over the past five years or so as Sunni extremist groups such as al Qaida have targeted them with occasional large-scale attacks. But the renewed violence in 

Iraq: Series of car bombs kills at least 31

Baghdad: At least 20 people were killed by a series of car bombs in mainly Shiite districts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Monday and 11 others were killed by attacks in the southern city of Basra, police and medics said. Scores of people have been killed in attacks over the past week as tensions between minority Sunni Muslims and Shiites who now lead Iraq have reached their highest level...  

Iraq: Two blasts outside Sunni Muslim mosque kill 76

Baghdad: Bombs struck Sunni areas in Baghdad and surrounding areas on Friday, killing at least 76 people in the deadliest day in Iraq in more than eight months, officials said, as a spike in violence has raised fears the country could be on the path to a new round of sectarian bloodshed. The attacks in Baghdad and surrounding areas pushed the three-day Iraqi death toll to 130, including Shiites at...  

Iraq: Two blasts outside Sunni Muslim mosque kill 43

Baquba: Two bombs exploded outside a Sunni Muslim mosque in the Iraqi city of Baquba as worshippers left Friday prayers, killing at least 43 people in one of the deadliest attacks in a month-long surge in sectarian violence. Several other bombings claimed lives around the country - with 19 killed near a commercial complex in the west of Baghdad, as mounting violence intensified fears of a return to all-out civil...  

Suicide bomber hits Shiite mosque in north Iraq, 8 dead

Kirkuk: A suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside a Shiite mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Thursday, killing at least eight people as they attended a mourning ceremony, police said. The bombing followed a series of blasts on Shiite neighbourhoods in Baghdad hours earlier, part of a surge in violence over the last four weeks stirring worries Iraq may slide back into widespread sectarian confrontation. ...  

Iraq suspends Al-Jazeera and 9 Iraqi TV channels

Baghdad: Iraqi authorities suspended the operating licenses of pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera and nine Iraqi TV channels on Sunday after accusing them of escalating sectarian tension. The move signaled the Shiite-led government's mounting worries over deteriorating security amid Sunni unrest and clashes that have left more than 180 people dead in less than a week. The suspensions, which took effect immediately, appeared to target mainly Sunni channels known for criticizing Prime...  

Iraq: Series of blasts kill at least 20 across Baghdad

Baghdad: Bomb blasts in Baghdad killed at least 20 more people on Friday at the end of a week of bloodshed that prompted a United Nations envoy to warn Iraq was "at a crossroads". More than 160 people have been killed since Tuesday, when troops stormed a Sunni protest camp near Kirkuk, triggering clashes that quickly spread to other Sunni areas in western and northern provinces. Although well below the...  

Nearly 50 killed as sectarian violence flares in Iraq

Baghdad: Nearly 50 people were killed in clashes on Thursday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, sources said, on the third day of the most widespread violence in Iraq since US troops withdrew in December 2011. More than 100 people have been killed in fighting since Tuesday, when troops stormed a Sunni protest camp, triggering clashes that quickly spread to other Sunni areas in western and northern provinces. Thousands...  

Iraq: Suicide bomber kills at least 27 in Baghdad cafe

Baghdad: At least 27 people were killed and dozens more wounded on Thursday when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Baghdad cafe popular with teenagers using the Internet, police and hospital officials said. Police and witnesses said emergency workers were still pulling out victims trapped when the blast collapsed part of the building in the west of the Iraqi capital. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing,...  

Iraq: 27 people killed in a series of attack

Baghdad: A series of attacks across Iraq killed 27 people and wounded well over 100 on Monday morning, officials said. The attacks, many involving car bombs, took place less than a week before Iraqis in much of the country are scheduled to vote in the country's first elections since the 2011 US troop withdrawal. The vote will be a key test of security forces' ability to keep voters safe. There...  

Explosions kill 4 in northwest Iraq: Officials

Baghdad: A trio of bombs exploded on Sunday in the northwest Iraqi city of Mosul, killing four security officers and wounding seven other people, officials said. The violence began with a car bomb that killed two soldiers and wounded another five, police officials said. A second bomb, which was placed under a vehicle, exploded, wounding two people. Later, a roadside bomb killed a police officer and a soldier. A health...  

Iraq: 18 killed in five car bombings incidents

At least 18 people were killed and over 100 injured in five car bombing incidents in Iraq Friday, Xinhua reported. ...  

Top US diplomat Kerry asks Iraq to stop arms to Syria

US Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday and said he told Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of his concern about Iranian flights over Iraq carrying arms to Syria. ...  

Going to Iraq was not the right decision, believes Obama

President Barack Obama continues to believe that going to Iraq was not a wise decision, although he agrees Iraq is a better place today as a result of sacrifice made by the US military, 10 years after it invaded the nation in search of chemical and biological weapons. Obama had opposed the Iraq war and ran for presidency on a promise to end it. The last batch American troops left...  

Iraq War 10th anniversary: Watch the iconic moments of the conflict

Sunday, March 17, marks 10 years since the beginning of the Iraq war, during which the NATO forces overthrew the regime of Saddam Hussein after a brutal conflict. ...

Iraq: At least 24 killed in serial blasts in central Baghdad

A string of explosions tore through central Baghdad within minutes of each other on Thursday, followed by a coordinated assault by gunmen who raided a government building and battled security forces in the streets. The attack left at least 24 people dead and scores wounded. ...  

Series of explosions in Iraq kill 16

At least 16 people were killed and 30 injured when two car bombs ripped off a Shiite neighbourhood in Iraq on Thursday night, Xinhua reported. ...  

Iraq: Series of explosions kill 22, injure dozens

A series of bombings struck Baghdad and towns south of the Iraqi capital on Thursday, killing at least 22 and wounding dozens in areas that are home to mostly Muslim Shiites - the latest evidence of rising sectarian discord in Iraq. The attackers struck a day before tens of thousands of Sunni Muslims are expected to take to the streets in what have become weekly protests against the Shiite-led government...  

Blasts hit Shiite districts in Baghdad, killing 28

Eight car bombs exploded in Shiite Muslim neighbourhoods across Iraq's capital Baghdad on Sunday morning, killing at least 28 people in blasts that tore into shops, restaurants and busy commercial streets. ...  

Suicide bomber, gunmen kill 33 in Iraq's Kirkuk

A suicide bomber driving a car and gunmen disguised as police killed at least 33 people in Iraq's Kirkuk on February 3 when they tried to storm a city police headquarters, police sources said. Kirkuk, a religiously and ethnically mixed area of Arabs, Kurds and Turkman, is at the heart of a dispute over oil and land between Baghdad's central government and the autonomous Kurdistan enclave in the north. ...